Bílá strž is a deeply cut, rocky ravine carved by the White Brook, tucked into the heart of the Šumava mountains near the Bavarian border. Here the stream tumbles over rocky steps and rapids, culminating in a scenic waterfall surrounded by pristine forest.

The gorge has a distinct character in every season - lively and swollen in spring, cool and shaded beneath beech canopies in summer, ablaze with color in autumn, and frozen into icy sculptures in winter. The reserve protects natural forest stands including species-rich beech forests, mountain acidophilous beech forests and azonal spruce forests, all part of the Natura 2000 network. Roughly a kilometer away as the crow flies lies the glacial Black Lake (Černé jezero) beneath its rocky wall, while the highest peaks nearby are Svaroh (1,334 m) and Velký Kokrháč (1,228 m).

How to get there

• Hamry - Hojsova Stráž train station - yellow trail to the Bílý potok junction (approx. 2.2 km), then continue on the yellow trail through the western part of the reserve to the waterfalls (easy to moderate)
• Alternatively, the red-marked trail and cycle route No. 2055 leading west from Black Lake

Practical information

• Protected as a National Nature Reserve - please stay on the marked trails
• Located within Šumava National Park and the Šumava Bird Area

According to some sources, this very gorge is said to be the setting of Carl Maria von Weber's famous opera Der Freischütz.